Ballotpedia Releases 2016 State Election Agency Report

Middleton, Wis. – September 21, 2016: In a thriving democracy, any eligible individual who wishes to run for state or federal office can do so. In order to find a place on the ballot, these candidates must interact with their state’s election agency.

Ballotpedia communicates with state election agencies hundreds of times each year. We know from experience that the accessibility of these agencies varies greatly by state. An accessible state election agency helps candidates by providing the necessary documents on its website, presenting information in a clear format, and responding to inquiries in a timely manner. The interactions candidates have with these agencies can either make their lives easier, or more frustrating, as they work to get their names placed on the ballot before voters. Today, Ballotpedia released our second edition of the State Election Agency Report that measures the ease of access, quality of information, and response speed of these agencies.

In this year’s analysis, Vermont’s election agency ranked as the nation’s most accessible. The state earned 49 of 50 possible points. New Mexico, meanwhile, ranked at the bottom, earning six out of 50 possible points. Washington’s score improved from our last report more than that of any other state—Washington earned 24 more points in 2016 than in 2014—raising the state’s ranking from 22nd in 2014 to 3rd in 2016. By contrast, Pennsylvania’s score dropped 19 points from 2014 to 2016, lowering the state’s ranking from 11th in 2014 to 23rd in 2016.

View the full report on Ballotpedia.About Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia is the online encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Its goal is to inform people about politics by providing exceptionally high-quality, accurate, and objective information about local, state, and federal politics and policies. Its content includes neutral, accurate, and verifiable information on government officials and the offices they hold, political issues and public policy, elections, candidates, and the influencers of politics. Headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin, Ballotpedia was founded in 2006. It has grown to include approximately 245,000 professionally authored encyclopedic articles that have garnered over 595 million page views.

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